One of the Good Guys
by Fae 206
Summary: Caputo, with some much needed help, is able to get enough evidence to get Taystee's sentence overturned and the COs punished for the death of Piscatella. However, the man who risked everything for Taystee doesn't want her to know who he is. What motive could be behind this and why would he risk his life and career for her?
1. One of the Good Guys

**AN:** I know that this only has a 1% chance of actually happening if that but I thought it would be a nice one-shot that has been floating around in my head for a while. I hope you enjoy.

 **One of the Good Guys**

Joe Caputo stared at the tape before him before looking up at the young once-minimum-security guard. The young man seemed to be sweaty and was running his hand through his now shaved hair. He somehow looked so much older, so much more exhausted than before and Joe worried about him. Still, he had put his enormous heart with so many passionate feelings towards something good. He had done something good.

"I don't think you understand that this could free her or at least lessen her sentence considerably," Caputo commented and he looked at the young man who had risked his life to expose Natoli, to expose Herrmann for his misdeeds. "Are you sure that you don't want her to know who you are?"

"I've already affected her life before, I…I'm doing this to be…well I want to be a good person. I…I keep thinking of that time when….I've done enough bad things in my life….I don't want to be responsible for anything more," the man said hesitantly and Joe looked at him.

"I knew that you were a good one," he grinned and the young man shook his head.

"No. No, I'm not," he said and Joe put his hand out.

"Just…just wait for one second, I've got something that I need to say to you," he said and the young man paused and turned his body back towards the former-warden's.

…..

…..

"Jefferson, visitation," a guard called out and Taystee stretched her arm out. She didn't really have anyone close to her, there was nobody from the outside that she was comfortable seeing anymore so she had spent her days inside. However, there was one man that she owed a lot to and would want to see again. Former warden, Joe Caputo. He had campaigned for her and somehow, someway he had been able to overturn the verdict and the people who should be receiving the justice were being made to answer for their crimes.

Taystee pulled herself up from the bed. So what if it was another reporter, she was enjoying the fact that soon she would be free. She had also had good character profiles stated that she was the mediator between the prisoners and the public and that maybe she would have her original sentence reduced.

Someone had been working with God to save her. She just wasn't sure who this was other than Caputo and his mysterious partner.

As she was brought to the line with the others waiting for visitation, she let her body rest as she smiled softly. Someone had been looking out for her and that person was good. They had done her a solid. Things that once bothered her before didn't do so so much anymore. She had been cleared of the murder and the detectives were going over new facts.

"That one," the guard said as he pointed to the window and Taystee came forward. Tears sprang to her eyes as she saw Caputo sitting there. She picked up the phone and bowed her head, covering her eyes to fight against her tears.

"It's so good to see you, Taystee," Caputo said as he laughed seeing the way she was so grateful to see his face.

"It's good to see you too, Mr. Caputo," Taystee smiled. "I mean, man, it's so good to see you. I..I don't know how you did it but thank you. I owe my life to you. I mean, I don't have anything, but man if I did then I'd be offering it to you. I'll never forget what you did for me."

"Yes, well I wish I could have done more but it was a very brave young man who went in to spy on these guys and find out the information that he did. He risked his life because he believed in you just like I believe in you," Caputo told her and Taystee grinned.

"Yeah, I know it. I mean, please thank this man for me, whoever he is….I mean, really, whoever it is even if it's that guy, ummm umm Pornstache or Heeley, thank them for me. This man saved my life," Taystee declared happily. "You're not going to tell me who it is yet,"

"I don't think that you'd want to know," Caputo commented, "He asked me not to give his name."

Taystee froze and looked at him. "Well, although I want to know his name, I've learned my lesson about not asking. Just, Mr. Caputo, tell him that I'm grateful. Tell him that I want to thank him in person if he's ever able to reveal his identity."

"I'll make sure that he knows," Caputo commented as he closed his eyes and thought about the meeting.

…..

…

"Just…just wait for one second, I've got something that I need to say to you," Caputo said and the man he was speaking to turned to him. "You didn't mean to kill anyone, that's why I couldn't stand behind them treating you as some kind of murderer who was psychotic. You reminded me a lot of myself, a young man who liked to play video games and tried to flirt with the ladies. For one thing, I'm glad that you were not within that riot."

"Maybe if I hadn't have been a guard there would have been no riot," the man said and Caputo sighed.

"You can't blame yourself. I knew that there should have been more training. The whole thing was a mess and you -"

"I killed her friend, Poussey Washington's death is on my knee," the man said as if haunted by the thought and then smiled weakly. "I just didn't want for her to hurt, her friend. I mean, I can never undo what I did but I knew that even if I died trying to go undercover, I was working towards helping her be free."

"You can't blame yourself for that," Caputo commented, "so what are you going to do now? Dye dogs for rich clients, you can do better than that Bailey."

"Maybe," Bailey said as he nodded shakily, "Just don't let her know. It doesn't make up for what I did, so just don't let her know, please."

"You have my word but don't forget, Bailey, you're one of the good guys."


	2. Chapter 1 - Buried Under Paperwork

**AN:** I decided to expand upon my one-shot. I hope nobody minds this but I saw potential in this story. Thank you for choosing to read it.

 **Chapter One – Buried under Paperwork**

"Well, Ms. Jefferson," Natalie Figueroa said as she looked Taystee in the eyes. "I see we've got quite a workload of files in front of us to go through and since I am, which I am not to believe you have any surprise about, a fan of paperwork, I want you to say only what needs to be said."

Taystee took a slow breath and nodded. She kept being pushed places, saying that the case was overturned and hard evidence had brought forth a confession that was then validated by two other people in a plea bargain of some kind. At least, that's what she heard people saying. It wasn't as if no one would say these things directly to her.

"Ms. Figueroa," Taystee said slowly, "I'm sure that you've got a lot of knowledge of these forms and everything but I'm not even sure what's going on." Taystee stretched out on the table and bowed her head, trying to steady her breathing. "Could you please explain what we are doing here?"

"What we're doing here, at least for the time being, is getting you moved over to gen pop and then there will be later meetings, later," Natalie gestured in the air to show the busy state of what was about to happen, "later paperwork and phone calls and emails and all of those _fantastic_ methods of communication. Maybe even a psychic down the line somewhere. All I know is that someone is looking out for you and you owe him, _both_ of them, a great deal of gratitude, young lady."

Taystee nodded. What she did know was that this charge that she had protested against had been dropped and the verdict reversed. She did know that her conviction was lighter and that she had a chance of getting out of here. What she didn't know was who had the guts to accurately capture what had happened to her. Who had even cared that much about her to do this when they could have been silent?

"I know that Mr. Caputo did a lot to help me and I am, of course, grateful to him but do you think you could tell me who the other person is, the one who got the information and found out that they were framing me."

"I'm afraid that the individual has asked to not have his or her identity disclosed," Natalie told her and Taystee sighed before nodding.

"Is it Chapman?" she asked and Natalie laughed.

"Piper Chapman, I think Piper Chapman wants to get as far away from here as possible. As much as she says that she wants to improve the living conditions for the inmates, I think we both know that the Piper Chapman's of the world would rather keep looking ahead and not slow down to look back. "No. I can assure you that it is _not_ Piper Chapman," Natalie grinned, continuing to chuckle to herself over the thought.

Taystee looked down. So, who was it? It was probably one of the black rights movement people. The people who wanted justice for the minorities, especially those of the black minority. Weren't people always trying to get known for their heroic actions in the world of social movement. Whoever it was who was helping her though, she was grateful.

…

…

"Is there a reason that you want your name removed from all of these documents?" Linda asked as she stood in the large conference room where Bayley was feeling incredibly small. It was daunting. The room was daunting to him and he was glad that he had been told by Mr. Caputo to call him following the end of the meeting. "I think if you wanted to be the hero, you would want to be known as one."

"It's…I've done a lot of bad stuff," Baxter told her as he tried to keep his hands on his lap but his eyes weren't straying from the reflection from the wooden table. Where did you get wood that shiny anyway?

"And so you're trying to shield yourself from going to jail?" Linda said. "Let's see, have you raped any of the inmates? Been part of a drug smuggling…"

"I accidentally killed her friend," Baxter said as he started shaking. He would never feel the weight of Poussey's death leave his shoulders. He would never be able to live a good life knowing the monster that he had been. "I'm the person that Mr. Caputo want-wanted to pro-protect. I…I was scared and…"

"Someone scared you?" Linda asked with a calculating smile, "So you're doing this because someone has made a threat on your happiness? Your welfare? Could you even say that Ms. Jefferson made a threat that caused you to do this?"

"Warren," Baxter said as he closed his eyes. "Warren is…she has health problems that I wasn't skilled to deal with. I tried to help when I was out of my depth. That is no excuse for my suffocation of Ms. Washington's death." He felt himself almost lose to the tears that were threatening to come up and he choked.

"Interesting," Linda said as she turned to the lawyer that the company had hired. "So, you're the unnamed officer. The rogue who is the catalyst for all of these events that led to the death of a number of inmates. That's why you did it. That's why you don't want her to know so that she continues to hate you."

"If hating me is her way of grieving her friend then I can live with that," Baxter told her. "Could I just sign the documents? I promise to never go near the prison again. I've done a lot of soul searching since it happened and I'm not the person that I used to be. I don't want to go back to the prison. I'd rather just start a new life."

"And allow Ms. Jefferson to hate you," Linda commented and Baxter nodded. "Well, former officer Bayley," she said, "I don't understand you do gooder types but fine, I'll proceed with not understanding you," she told him and Baxter nodded. "The lawyers will go over what to sign and feel free to ask as many questions as you need."

Baxter gulped and nodded. Hopefully he had just saved her life, the life of a woman he had so greatly wronged.

…

…

Taystee looked out into the yard. This felt somewhat unlike a battle ground and in fact there was more kickball than knife fights. Maybe things had been turning around without her noticing it. Of course, anyone would have to forgive her for not paying attention to what was going on. She had been sentenced to life in prison and now that was being overturned.

"And so, once again we have Suzanne getting the point to win the gaaaame!" Cindy called out and Taystee turned in her direction. She looked away before Cindy could make eye contact with her. Taystee was done with her. Those kinds of lies left deep scars and she knew that Cindy understood that. She was good on her own.

"Ooooh! Snicker Doodles!" Suzanne smiled as she saw Taystee standing outside. "You're back? Like…you are back right, like back back."

"Yeah, hey girl," Taystee said as she wrapped her arms around the other woman, one of the only friends she had left. Taystee wondered if she had always looked down on Suzanne. It was hard when the girl lived in her own imagination but that meant that she wouldn't want to hurt her. Yeah, as much as having _anyone_ was hurting her, Suzanne wasn't a bad companion.

"We all thought you were getting the death penalty, how'd you get out of that?" Tiffany asked as she came over and put her hand on Suzanne's shoulder.

"Guess I have a guardian angel or something," Taystee shrugged. She just wish that she knew who it was who was giving her so much help. Well, she'd listen out for any ringing bells.

 **End of Chapter One**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of the one-shot.**

Distantmuse, nourseholly, vausesandspanishharlem


	3. Chapter 2 - Behind the Mask

**Chapter Two – Behind the Mask**

So, she was a legend. Walking into the cells of MAX, Tasha Jefferson was seen as a legend, somebody who had been caught with open arms and brought back to life. It was tight as hell but she wanted to know who she could thank. Although she was sure that Suzanne would want to write something that gave her freedom, Taystee was thinking that Suzanne really didn't have what would be necessary to do such a thing.

It had to be somebody on the outside, maybe one of those people from the ACLU. Had her news spread to other areas? Other states? What were her birth mother think. Taystee hadn't thought about her for a bit but with this type of scandal then it was probable that she would have heard this news. No. It was best not to think of her anyway.

Then who was it.

She seriously didn't think that Chapman had power on the outside despite her being free and having seen what was happening in the prison. Chapman had more opportunity to do it than anyone in here did. She sighed as she sat in her cell, watching her roommate who was some crazy white girl who hated Chapman for some dumb reason.

"You think that she's out there cheating on her fiancée?" this girl, 'Badison' said and Taystee sighed. Why was she saddled with crazy again?

"Why do you even care what Chapman does?" she asked as she realized that the only reason she had been placed in here was timing. This was an open cell and she was still a prisoner. She was less guilty than she had been before they had known her innocence but that didn't stop her from being a prisoner. "Just think of it. She's out there, she's not gonna come back and haunt you, and you're all the way here. Just try to think of how you can lighten your case load, try to be all zen and all."

"You know," Madison laughed as she squatted down beside Taystee, "You're pretty lucky that you're in here. You could have been with you know all those black girls, you know, I think that I'm being quite hospitable."

"You and I are the same," Taystee whispered, "President Obama said so. Doctor King said so. Now, I say so. Unless you want the guards to hear you then just shut up. I've had enough of you anyway," she sighed and Madison kept pacing. Taystee only wished that she was somewhere else. She knew that she couldn't be lying on a hot beach in Barbados but she could imagine she was somewhere other than this cell at this particular moment.

Well, at least she was alive.

…

…

This itch still wasn't allowing Taystee mental freedom. She knew that she should be grateful that somebody was willing to even do this for her. She knew what kind of risks might have been involved in securing the evidence and how they were feeling. Did she have a secret admirer out there? She hoped that if she did, he would be some heroic man who worked out at a gym and not the kind of person who catalogued his comic books on a Friday night. If it was the latter then she was still grateful but would try to persuade him that she wasn't girlfriend material.

She had been told that she had a visitor and her gut was saying that her knight in shining armor wasn't the person who was there for her today. Most likely Mr. Caputo. Still, after all that she had done to him, seeing him there cheering her on was important to her. She sighed and let her body rest against the wall before seeing one of the major players in the prison, Vause.

She looked at her. If Vause was here then maybe that meant that Chapman was here and she could ask her about what had been going on. Or at least she could ask Vause to do so. She looked at the brunette and coughed, "Hey, Vause," she said and Alex looked at her.

"Yes," she said with a smile, "It's good to see that we've got you back, Taystee"

"Thanks," Taystee laughed before looking forward, "You think you could do me a favor? I don't have anything to trade for it but I was hoping you could just do me a solid?"

"A solid?" Alex asked as she laughed and looked away, "I'm sorry. I don't think my cred would help just to -"

"Can you just ask Chapman if she's involved with me getting back here?" Taystee asked and Alex stiffened a little before sighing.

"You know what, I'll ask her, quick and simple. Now, I might not be able to go into a lot of detail with her and it'll impress me if she's gotten out of that circle of hypothesizing enough to actively do something, but yes, I will ask her if she knows anything," Alex said and Taystee nodded her thanks.

She also didn't think that Chapman would have put a plan into action but it was worth checking. She didn't want to continue thinking about who had done this for her if the answer was in her reach already.

…

…..

"So," Caputo smiled as Taystee watched him, still preoccupied with what had led to her to be put into the general population again. She seemed distracted and Joe had to admit that he had hoped he would have been visiting a Taystee with more enthusiasm. "What I've been looking at shows that there are things out there for you to aim for outside of prison. I know you've always been smart and the ACLU is willing to work with you…" he paused before raisin an eyebrow. "Taystee, these visits of ours are not something that I _should_ be doing as the former-warden but I thought that for your benefit I would try to help you. Now, I can always not come down here and we can always not talk."

"Sorry," Taystee said quickly, "I'm thankful for your contact and your conversation, Mr. Caputo but can't you at least give me a hint as to who it was who got them to switch their judgement on me. What kind of person it was?"

Caputo sighed, "It was a man," he said feeling guilty that he couldn't say too much to her and Taystee smiled.

"You mean a good looking man who rises above such things as prison policies?" she asked and Caputo sighed, he shook his head.

"I can assure you that the reason behind this man doing this was not to become intimate with you," he said and Taystee sighed.

"That would have been something fun to hear at least," she said and Caputo looked at her. He didn't know how long he could avoid talking about who had taken her out of death row and managed to give her her life back. Bayley didn't want her to know and whilst Caputo thought that she should know, he wouldn't dishonor him. This had been an amazing chance that the young man had given to someone else.

"Why would someone do this for me anyway?" Taystee asked and Caputo shrugged.

"There are many reasons including all those people you inspired in that court room by not giving up. You stayed strong and sharp and you answered the questions with skill and grace. You really held your own in that room and don't let anyone tell you otherwise," Caputo told her and Taystee paused. She nervously looked at him and sighed.

"Yeah, but why me?" she asked and Caputo stiffened.

"Because sometimes," he told her, withholding most of the information, "There is good in everybody even those we have taught ourselves to believe have none. Those people have good that we may never expect," he said and Taystee looked at him curiously. He was saying everything and nothing in those words and she just had to use her knowledge to unravel those words.

 **End of Chapter Two**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to** distantmuse **for reviewing Chapter One**


	4. Chapter 3 - A Certain Soap Product

**AN:** The view at the end is not one that I have constant but I thought that with Pipers naivety about some of the things in the world it might work. Thank you for taking the time to return to this fic 😊

 **Chapter Three – A Certain Soap Product**

So many thoughts wrestled their way through Taystee's mind as she sat down at one of the tables during the time outside. She looked ahead trying to figure out Caputo's words. She didn't know what they meant but it was as if he were trying to protect somebody. If someone had helped her then she wasn't going to be ungrateful but she was interested in knowing.

She looked up to see Cindy who stared at her and then turned away and went over to Flacca. She opened her mouth to say something but then decided not to. Sometimes connections had to end, friendships had to end. She was surprised how many different groups had come to coexist whilst she was trying to decide whether to sink or swim.

She saw Suzanne and Tiffany standing together and gave Suzanne a small wave. She knew that things were hard on her and she didn't want to blame her. She saw the happy smile that came onto her face with the wave and walked over to her. "Uh, hey…" she said as people whispered about her.

"Hey," Tiffany said as she looked around, "We having some kind of trouble here. Now, I _know_ for a fact that pinks, we're off limits, see so you can't really," she heard Suzanne laughing and raised an eyebrow. "Now, what's got you so squirmy."

"I don't think Taystee's going to come hit us, she probably just came to say hi," Suzanne laughed and Tiffany gave her a questioning look again.

"Yeah," Taystee said slowly, "Just wanted to say hi and make sure that you were doing okay. Things got all screwed up but I'm glad that I don't ha-"

"Yeah, nice not to see you fry," Tiffany commented and Suzanne shook her head, trying not to think about the words that were being used. "So, you ever find out how big the boner was of the guy who did this for you."

"Uh, no," Taystee said as she looked around.

"Well, he probably hasn't been able to show her," Suzanne added, "you see, to show her that he'd have to get naked and come visit her but it seems that she doesn't know who it is so unless it's a ghost, it could be a ghost. I've often heard moaning here, those types of groans that ghosts make, those sad ghosts with sad lives."

"Well, those could also be called your fellow inmates," Tiffany said before laughing. "Oh man," she said before putting her arm up over her mouth. She laughed softly and shook her head, "Nah, man, that would be _way too_ funny."

"What…would be funny?" Taystee asked and Tiffany stepped forward so they were looking at each other face to face.

"If it was that guard…that Bailey guard wanting to apologize to you, like…that would be pretty hilarious, you trying so hard to get him the death penalty and him attempting to save you from it." Tiffany turned to Taystee who was looking paler, her eyes widening.

"No," she said before turning around and walking away, "Good to see you Suzanne," she called out before turning to Doggett. "It is _not_ Bailey, that piece of crap doesn't have any good inside of him. He's dirty inside and ou-"

…

…

"You don't have to worry about your stuff being stolen," Piper said in a deadpan as she looked at Polly. She couldn't believe that the woman who had been her best friend for so many years – before she got together with her ex-fiance – was treating her as if she was a common crook. Polly had set up a soap and fragrance store with another friend and had made the dream that Piper had had with her blossom into something else. Apparently they thought that she was going to steal merchandise.

"It's just," Polly said, "we like things very exact. It took a lot of promises on my end to get you this job."

"And you can take it back just as easily, it's only a stand in job for a day or so, my parents have arrangements," Piper said. She felt a little guilty that she had her parents using contacts and favors to find her work, most of the girls on the inside of the Litchfield Max didn't have that. She needed to try to get her head out from her own ass.

"Don't," Polly told her sternly, "Don't be ungrateful. I'm happy that you agreed to be my friend and I'd like to build that friendship back with you but don't try to be so ungrateful. You're not really in high demand, Pipes."

Piper rolled her eyes before walking over to the soap products and saw someone in a hoody knock on the door of the small store front.

"Friend of yours?" Polly asked and Piper sighed, leaning forwards.

"Correct because having been incarcerated, every person who walks in an awkward manner with a hood is a friend of mine. We all meet together in the community, jailbird pool, do a lot party." Polly rolled her eyes and went over to the door to open it.

"Sorry, we're…" Polly began but then Piper started to feel more familiarity about him. She knew that body language and the way that he was nervously breathing in and out. She walked over to Polly, "not open yet, we'll be open in about twe-"

"Bailey?" Piper asked surprised and Baxter looked up to see Piper there. His eyes widened.

"Uh, they know…they know you're out, right, right Chapman?" he asked and Piper nodded. She was glad that Bailey hadn't been hurt. He had done a terrible thing and had been responsible for the loss of a life but it was the poor training. Bailey was clumsy and procrastinated and was self-involved but cruelness wasn't one of his character traits.

"Yes, they know I'm out. Legal and everything," Piper told him and Bailey nodded. He looked around. "So what brings you out down here? You're looking for some kind of soap product?"

"Yeah, uh…this customer of my dad's…the dog really likes the soap from this store and her…her owner like gave us money to get it and so I thought that since she's paying for the service it might."

"Tell me what it is and I'll put it aside for you when the store is open," Polly said and Bailey nodded quickly as he gave the name of the product and then went away. Polly turned to Piper with a blunt look on her face. "You promise you're not running a secret prison gang?" she asked and Piper laughed weakly.

"That…that was actually a guard who was one of the reasons for the riot starting but no, I don't think I'll have anyone else from the prison stop by, especially those who are supposed to be in there." Piper sighed. It was a fair drive away from where they had known each other before and Piper had to wonder what Bailey had been doing. If it had been Mendez then she would have felt insane to care so much about a guard but something was off with Bailey.

Piper's eyes widened. He couldn't be the one who had managed to save Taystee's life right. That was a miracle in itself and Baxter Bailey was a sweet guy who might not be the smartest kid on the playground but he couldn't perform miracles. Hopefully she would be able to ask him about this and then share what she noticed with Alex. That would be great if he could redeem himself to Taystee, if he had been behind her getting more freedom then she would just have to forgive him, wouldn't any sane person?

 **End of Chapter Three**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**


	5. Chapter 4 - You Can Always Use a Lyft

**Chapter Four – You Can Always Use a Lyft**

Caputo looked across the table at the young man who was trying to piece his life together. He felt a little pride at having picked this man and selected him as one of the better COs. However, he hadn't wanted Baxter to fall into a bad position in life and he hoped that he would go to a community college, spark an interest in something, and then follow that dream. He had felt the same for Fischer. Sometimes there were people who just weren't meant to be in prisons.

"So," Joe smiled, "Tell me. What steps have you taken in your career?"

"Well," Baxter said uneasily. "I'm still helping my dad, you know, with the dog dying and I might look around for something in sales or …"

"What do you enjoy doing?" Caputo asked and Bailey paused. He had been trying to think over that for a while. He wasn't sure. He did enjoy saving people but he had killed someone. He had done the opposite of his job and although it felt like an accident that he regretted every day. It had caused problems – his lack of thinking – he didn't want to be in that situation ever again.

"I think…maybe going into the air force," he said and Joe nodded slowly. He still felt that Bailey was more important and more pure than to go into the air force but it was a noble profession and it would mean that he would be able to help others.

"Okay," Joe nodded.

"How is she…I mean…I don't think that I should be asking and it's not really my right to know," Baxter said with a shaky tone to his voice. Caputo sighed, grappling with what he should truly tell the man in front of him.

"It's not good, I'll say that much, but it's better."

Bailey laughed weakly, he closed his eyes and took a sip of his drink. The coffee tasted pleasant, relaxing almost but did he have a right to feel that.

"She's trying to find out the hero who saved her," Caputo told him and Bailey looked at him nervously. Caputo realized in his eyes that he was trying to figure out whether or not to appear in front of her again. Taystee truly disliked him. He was the murderer who killed her friend. He was the reason why the riot was started and why she had even gone to trial.

"Is it worth me going down there?" he asked, "Talking to her."

"I'm pretty sure that you're not on her approved visitation list," Caputo reminded him and Bailey gave a rather shaky nod. "I mean. If you truly want for me to talk to her and tell her what you did, I'd be happy to go there but I don't think she would ever see you face to face."

Baxter nodded, "Could you do that?" he asked and Caputo nodded.

"If that's truly what you want but I don't know if she'd forgive you even after you did this. Women tend to establish some rather deep friendships," Caputo attempted to remind him and Bailey nodded in agreement. That was one thing that was the same no matter what gender you were, you could hold your friends close and if something were to happen to them then you would give your life to get revenge.

Joe finished his coffee and nodded to Bailey.

"I'll see what I can do and when I can see her," he assured the younger male and Bailey nodded nervously. Maybe if he was in the sky then he would get a new perspective on life. He really hoped so because the current perspective was twisted in too many knots for him to feel comfortable.

…..

…..

Despite knowing that drinking wasn't going to help, Bailey had concentrated on the fact that Joe Caputo would be soon telling Tasha Jefferson his actions in this. Maybe he had already told her. Maybe the reaction was so bad that Caputo was feeling nervous about relaying whatever reaction it was. Still, Bailey had gone out drinking and he knew it wasn't safe to drive. He would have to collect his car the next day.

He fumbled on his phone and picked the Lyft app. He would need to get home somehow, it didn't even matter any longer how he chose to do it. Bailey's eyes widened as he saw a picture of someone he knew well: Artesian McCullough.

Was this a sign that he should return as a correctional officer. No. He wasn't ready to face that type of a life again. He had made a rather significant mistake when it came to that job. He waited for her to arrive and she stared at him with wide eyes.

"Can I get in?" Bailey asked as he went to the driver's window and McCullough smiled weakly before nodding. She had been glad that Baxter had managed to escape Litchfield before the riot. He hadn't gone through the pain that the rest of them had and she was somewhat jealous.

"Yeah, yeah of course," Artesian said as she unlocked the back and Bailey slipped in. McCullough could smell the alcohol on his breath but she had picked up a lot of drunk people who felt it was unwise to go home. They were usually good tippers as well but this ride might bring her some peace. "How are you? I hoped that the social media didn't mass-"

"It's okay," Bailey said and Artesian blinked slowly, "I mean. I did kill her even if I would never mean to kill anyone. A girl is dead because of me and though others might have seen her as a prisoner, I had sworn to protect her."

"It's okay," Artesian replied, "at least you weren't there when they shot Humphrey," she said as she started to feel as if she were going to throw up. "Or that dumb talent show or being trapped in a porterpotty."

Bailey nodded before looking out the window, "I'm sorry that I started that," he said and McCullough watched him. Yes, he had been one of the main catalysts for what had happened during the riot but he hadn't meant those things. Who could have been expected to take care of Warren when she was in that state.

"It was an accident," McCullough tried to defend him.

Bailey sighed, he felt his shoulders slump. "A young woman died because of me, because I wasn't aware of my surroundings like Mr. Caputo always told me. There shouldn't be any accidents that lead to her death. We were responsible for the care of the inmates."

"I wouldn't worry about it," McCullough replied, "It's not as if they took care of us when the positions were reversed. So, what's been happening in you-"

"Can I take you out to coffee some time?" Baxter asked and Artesian adjusted her mirror so that she could see him a little better. She didn't know if Bailey knew what he was saying or not but she hoped that she could get even more support despite him not sharing those painful memories with her.

"Like…on a date?" she asked and Baxted nodded, staring out of the window. "Okay, let's set that up," she smiled. That had been what her doctor had suggested to her, finding a life outside of prison that made her happy when she wasn't working. Maybe they could help each other survive their own pain.

 **End of Chapter Four**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to** vausesandspanishharlem **for their review on Chapter Three**


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